But Kean says a win for his side today would leave Big ‘Eck sweating over his chances of staying up.

Kean, who last night named goalkeeper Paul Robinson as captain for the rest of the season, said: “I don’t think anyone who will have a four or five point advantage over us is out of it by any means.

“Blackpool had 32 points at this stage last year and didn’t survive. The gap only matters at the end, not now, because teams have always put runs together and others have hit the wall.

“There’s so many games to play and points to be made up or lost by teams that might think they are in a safe position.”

Kean says March is ‘massive’ for Rovers with Villa today, Wolves away, Sunderland at home and Bolton away.

But he aims to be out of the bottom three by April 2, when they take on Manchester United at Ewood Park. He added: “By then we want to be out of the relegation zone and hopefully have a bit of daylight.”

Kean still faces protests from fans against the Blackburn hierarchy, but added: “The lads have felt a real sea change inside the ground since the Bolton game. The fans have got behind us.”